Uber in Bulgaria Part II – A New Logistics Center is on the Way

File illustration picture showing the logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone next to the picture of an official German taxi sign in Frankfurt, September 15, 2014. A Frankfurt court earlier this month instituted a temporary injunction against Uber from offering car-sharing services across Germany. San Francisco-based Uber, which allows users to summon taxi-like services on their smartphones, offers two main services, Uber, its classic low-cost, limousine pick-up service, and Uberpop, a newer ride-sharing service, which connects private drivers to passengers - an established practice in Germany that nonetheless operates in a legal grey area of rules governing commercial transportation. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/Files (GERMANY - Tags: BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT CRIME LAW TRANSPORT)

According to Lukarski, Uber is to build a logistics center in Bulgaria that will assume the management role over taxi service operations in other European countries, as reported on Dnevnik.bg. Lukarski has explained that the nature of this project is not related to the limitation of Uber’s car service activities in the country. In his own words, “Bulgaria is a popular outsourcing destination,” and that is why it is the right fit for Uber’s logistics center.

He adds that the project has already been approved by the Bulgarian Investment Agency (InvestBulgaria Agency). As he claims, since the beginning of 2016, the Agency has certified 5 projects worth 100 million levs, whereas 22 other projects in the fields of manufacturing, engineering, and high-technology are still pending.

Image credit: novinite.com

Uber in Bulgaria – In a nutshell

The history of Uber in Bulgaria began in December 2014, when the company first introduced the ride sharing system in Sofia. This service gained great popularity amongst Bulgarian citizens. The taxi companies did not share the excitement at all. In March 2015, the largest taxi trade union organisation in Bulgaria, Union Taxi, started with protests against Uber’s operations in Sofia. The Commission for Protection of Competition resolved the situation by announcing a ban on Uber’s operations in the country by referring to unfair competition. The Supreme Administrative Court made this ban effective on October 6, 2015. According to a survey made by Gallup International in Bulgaria, 77% of the surveyors agreed that the ban on Uber did not benefit consumers.